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SUBSTITUTE 

as 

INTENDED TO BE OFFERED 



TO 



The next Meeting of the Citizens of Richmond, 



ON THE SUBJECT OF 



/\ 



/ 



lV 



IN LIEU OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE 



J 
BY WATKINS LEIGH. 




RICHMOND: 
Printed by Shepherd & PoUalxl. 

182 4. 






TO THE EDITORS OF THE ENQUIRER. 

RICHMOND, April 27, 1824. 
Gentlemen, 

I send you for publication, the subjoined paper, which I 
have prepared for the purpose of offering, and (if God spares my 
life) intend to offer, to the meeting of the citizens of Richmond, 
which shall be convened to receive the report of the committee 
appointed at the former meeting, on the subject of a Convention, 
as a substitute for any report which that committee shall present. 

I publish it now, partly because I think it right that my towns- 
men should have an opportunity to deliberate on the principles it 
maintains, and the arguments adduced in support of them, before 
they are called on to give their opinion ; and partly, because I 
wish to suggest to my fellow-citizens, throughout the Common- 
wealth, the topics of argument, which, in my opinion, it behoves 
them to consider. 

I thus publicly avow this paper, not from any vanity deluding 
me into an opinion, that my humble name can give it any weight, 
(the magnitude of the subject would alone suffice to stifle in my 
heart a sentiment so unworthy of the occasion ;) but because the 
paper was prepared with a view to be publicly avowed, and be- 
cause the principles it contains, are the deliberate convictions of 
my best judgment, and I am willing to stake myself upon the 
purity of them. 

I am, with all respect, gentlemen, 

Your obedient servant, 

B. W. LEIGH. 



SUBSTITUTE, $c, 



This meeting is deeply impressed with the delicacy, the gra- 
vity, the dignity of the subject, on which it is assembled to delibe- 
rate ; and approaches it with unfeigned humility and awe. 

Those who publish their opinions to the world, and the reasons 
on which they found them, design, if they be sincere and honest, 
to inform and convince the public mind — to influence its resolu- 
tions by the force of truth and reason alone. It behoves all men 
to discard all partial views, to dismiss all hasty prepossessions, 
to deliberate maturely, and to examine with the utmost circum- 
spection the infinitely diversified and complex relations of society, 
before they resolve to attempt, or counsel, change in any tried 
system of general laws whatsoever; much more, before they pre- 
sume to touch the leges legum, the fundamental laws and consti- 
tution of their country. 

It is not the part of wisdom, to act, or move at all, in such high 
concerns, without strong and adequate motive, without means safe 
and sure, without objects certainly defined, certainly good, and 
certainly attainable. Men ought to feel some serious practical 
evil, to know that that evil is imputable to some vice or defect in 
the constitution, and to know, with a moral certainty, deduced 
from the uniformity of public sentiment on the occasion, that the 
proper corrective will be applied in exact and due measure, before 
they endeavor to excite in the minds of others, or cherish in their 
own, discontents against a government, so mild in its character as 
ours, and so beneficial in its actual operation. They ought not 
to put in jeopardy, or expose to the slightest hazard, the certain 
blessings they enjoy. 

Human reason, even supposing it unclouded by passion or pre- 
judice, (if that be possible,) when employed in estimating the pros- 
pective effects of political institutions, or of political causes put 
in action, has ever proved lamentably fallible. Modesty and pru- 
dence, as they are inseparable qualities, so they are the eternal 
tests, of true wisdom. Wise men find in the consciousness of 
their own weakness and blindness, as well as in the warnings of 
all history, the most cogent persuasives to the extremest caution 
and circumspection. Of those of our fellow-citizens who desire 
a convention to reform the constitution, no man, (it is hoped 
and believed,) desires a total change ; no man denies, that there 
is much that is good, and wise, and happy, which ought by all 



means to be preserved. They must all be aware, that men reason 
on different principles, and variously on the same principles; and 
arrive at the most diverse conclusions. How can any man know, 
that that which he deems a fault will be corrected, or that the 
amendment his judgment approves, will be adopted ? How can any 
man know, that all the vices he deplores will not be retained, or 
that all which he most values as good, will not be abolished ? How 
can any man know, how can he feel any confident assurance, that, 
if the very amendments he himself thinks advisable should be 
made, (exactly and no more,) such reform, in practical operation, 
will work good or evil? The appeal is addressed to the sober 
reason of the advocates for a convention. Let it not be evaded 
by the general answer — that they are willing to trust the people. 
That argument will be equally applicable and forcible in favor of 
convention after convention, until we get a constitution in which 
no imperfection can be discovered or imagined ; such an institu- 
tion as no time, no generation, will ever see. If that argument pre- 
vail, we must make up our minds, to forego the blessings of a fixed 
frame of polity and a settled order of things, and to live in a state 
of perpetual revolution. This were the most wretched condition 
to which human kind was ever doomed. We, ourselves, are a 
part of the people, called to act, and bound to suffer, with all the 
rest. Let us not be tempted to imprudence by vainglory. That 
the people, in their sovereign capacity, can do no wrong, means only 
that they are irresponsible : that they will do no wrong, maans only 
that they will not wilfully betray their own interests, and blast 
their own happiness. But the friends of popular government do 
not set up the presumptuous and absurd pretension, that the peo- 
ple are exempt from liability to error. The good sense of the 
people will distinguish between the language of flattery and the 
friendly voice of truth. 

Use and habit assimilate political institutions to the body poli- 
tic, and make them wholesome. The people of Virginia are used 
to the present form of government : they know exactly what it 
gives, and what it withholds : their feelings, manners, opinions, de- 
sires, have been in a measure moulded by it, and are thoroughly 
conformed with it. Years would roll away before any new consti- 
tution, that could be devised, would set so easy on them, Those 
who migrate from their native land, rarely become stationary, so 
long as new prospects open before them, and tempt them to pro- 
ceed : those who begin the work of political innovation without 
strong necessity, or carry it beyond the necessity which dictates 
it, adopt the principle of mutation. We know the present consti- 
tution of Virginia: we know, by trial and use, that its dominion 
is light, and easy, and commodious. Why shall we cast it away, 
and seek a new frame 'of government, the weight and fitness, the 
character and practical effects of which no man can foreknow, 
the form of which no man can imagine ? 



in political affairs, especially in what concerns the practical 
forms and principles of government, experience alone can detect 
what is evil and approve what is good. That is our only sure 
guide. It has been justly said, that time is the wisest thing in 
the world. It may be affirmed, as a general truth applicable to 
the laws of every free people, that any institution that has ex- 
isted long unchanged, though it appear imperfect at first sight, 
will be found, on close examination, to be deeply laid in solid 
foundations, and to rest, in all its main parts, on some permanent 
enduring reason, growing out of the nature of things, or out of the 
peculiar circumstances of the nation : else, it had never been 
permitted to stand unaltered, and acquire stability and venera- 
tion from age. This constitution has been in operation from the 
foundation of the Republic. It was ordained by the statesmen 
and patriots of the revolution, whose hearts were chastened, 
whose minds were expanded, and enlightened, and nerved to match 
the circumstances in which they were placed, by the very solem- 
nity and grandeur of the scene in which they were called to act. 
Frequent proposals have been made, at different periods, to call 
a convention to reform or change it; and made in vain. Let us 
ask ourselves, in the modesty of sober reason, whether we, in 
these times, are better acquainted with the true principles of 
republican government, or more devoted to them, than the states- 
men of 1776 ? Whether, if there were really any thing in this 
constitution contrary to those principles, or if there were any real 
practical inconvenience in the system, it would have escaped all 
the wise and good men who have flourished in this Common- 
wealth during this long period ? Whether these, perceiving the 
vice, would knowingly have forborne' to correct it? There is a 
weight of authority in favor of the present constitution, which no 
man may lightly disregard. 

Political prudence views with jealousy all essential changes 
and innovations upon old and fundamental institutions ; is only 
prompted to them by overruling necessity ; and receives them, at 
last, with caution and apprehension. In the language of the De- 
claration of Independence, " Whenever any government becomes 
" destructive of — the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- 
* piness — it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. — 
"Prudence indeed will dictate, that governments long estab- 
" lished, should not be changed for light and transient causes; 
" and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are 
" more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right 
" themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
" tomed." Has the form of government to which we are accus- 
tomed, in its practical operation, proved destructive of life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ? Has it, in any manner, 
cramped or hindered, or failed to promote, secure and defend, the 
enjoyment and exercise of those rights? What are the insuffer- 
able evils, or rather it may be asked, what are the serious incon- 



veriiences, that we have ever suffered, or do now endure, or ap- 
prehend, which should move us to change or reform ? 

The advocates of a Convention appeal to our Bill of Rights ; 
the authority of which we admit, and are content to abide by* 
It is declared in the third article, that " of all the various modes 
" and forms of government, that is best, which is capable of pro- 
" ducing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most 
" effectually secured against the danger of mal-administration ; 
u and that when any government shall be found inadequate or 
" contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath 
«< an indubitable, unalienable, indefeasible right, to reform, alter 
" or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive 
" to the public weal." Let us, then, appeal to the history of this 
government, and gather its true character from our experience of 
its operation. Hath it secured, defended and promoted, as much 
as human institutions could, our happiness and safety ? Hath it 
approved itself in practice, effectually secured against the dan- 
ger of mal-administration ? Or, hath it been found inadequate or 
contrary to the purposes for which it was ordained ? If this 
question can be fairly answered in the affirmative, let it be re- 
formed, altered, or abolished according to the exigencies which 
experience has developed. But if all men must, in their con- 
sciences, answer it in the negative ; it may, indeed, be the sove- 
reign will of the people, which none may presume to question or 
resist, but (upon the principle of this declaration) it never can 
be right, to abolish, alter, or reform it. 

Under this constitution, the people have been protected in their 
persons, property and happiness, in religious and civil liberty, to 
a degree never surpassed in any age or nation of the world. 
Religious freedom, in the purest and most extended sense of the 
phrase, has been secured to all ; and on that the dearest interest 
of mankind, no unjust preferences, no bigotry or intolerance, no 
heats, jealousies or heartburnings, remain among us. The severe 
criminal code of the common law, has been ameliorated to that 
degree, that if error have been committed in this regard, it lies 
on the side of mercy. All restraints, upon the alienation of 
lands, have been removed ; and the whole national domain laid 
open and free to the acquisition of honest industry, in all modes 
of exertion, and to all manner of free men. The law of descents 
has been adapted to our republican institutions ; so as effectually 
to prevent the possible permanent accumulation of property in 
any family. The population of the State, notwithstanding the 
immense emigrations to the west, has been continually and ra- 
pidly increasing. The Executive has never even been accused 
of a single act of usurpation or violence, or with any failure to 
extend mercy, where mercy could be reconciled with policy. 
The Judges, from the lowest to the highest, have administered 
justice with unimpugned and unimpeachable fairness, integrity 
and firmness : self-love, with all its blindness, has never induced 



any suitor to question the motives of his judge. The Legisla- 
ture has enacted no unjust, oppressive, or obnoxious laws : its 
enactments must, in the main, be admitted to have been wise t 
and if at any time it has enacted impolitic laws, they have soon 
been repealed. It has never turned a deaf ear to the complaints 
of the people, or indeed of any individual; it has rejected no 
petition unheard ; it has granted every prayer founded in truth 
and justice. And, in respect to its fiscal measures, if it has erred 
at all, it is supposed to have erred on the safer side of a too rigid 
economy. Not only no instance has occurred, but no charge has 
been made, no suspicion entertained, of one single act of cor- 
ruption, in any officer in legislative, executive or judicial station. 
No poor man has ever been oppressed with impunity : no rich 
man has ever been exalted on the mere strength of wealth alone. 
No commotions, no factions, no animosities, have arisen among 
us, in relation to our internal affairs or government : the parties, 
that have divided us, are referrible to the measures of the gene- 
ral government ; and even these have been singularly exempt 
from malignity. Our State institutions have disarmed their rage, 
and made forbearance, charity and moderation, the only means 
ambition can employ, with any hope of success. 

The truth of this summary will not and cannot be denied by 
any man of observation. All things mark the prevalence of 
wholesome laws, of a good and truly republican government ; civil 
and religious liberty protected, and secured indiscriminately to 
all — Industry encouraged (in the only manner it ought) by per- 
fect freedom in its exertion and security of its fruits — An Exe- 
cutive, powerless to any purpose of mischief — A Legislature, 
parentally tender of the citizen, and delicately sensible to public 
opinion — Public burthens light — Justice administered impartially 
and firmly, yet in mercy too — A people, free, virtuous, united, 
tranquil, happy : obedient to the laws ; respectful of all consti- 
tuted authority ; and proud of the name of Virginian. 

Man cannot expect, or ask, any happier political condition than 
this. 

It were idle to institute a comparison between the state of this 
republic, and of those of ancient Greece or Rome, or of modern 
Italy or Switzerland: so different were the circumstances of 
them all, from those in which we find ourselves, that there is really 
no point of comparison. We can only compare our condition 
with that of our fellow -citizens of other states of this union ; and 
the only profitable comparison is that, which maybe made between 
Virginia and the other large States : a comparison, that may not, 
freely and thus publicly, be pursued. That, much of what we 
boast as good, is common to them with us, we believe and admit. 
We rejoice in their prosperity ; we are wholly disinclined to see, 
much more to expose, their failings : yet, in a comparison betweeu 
them and ourselves, self-love might betray us into injustice to- 
wards them, and the want of accurate information might mislead 



8 

us into error. But, it may be asked, in general, in what respect 
is their condition better than ours? Have their efforts to amend 
and reform their constitutions, exalted their happiness above that 
which we enjoy ? Is their condition indeed so good? When has 
this commonwealth been agitated to its centre by any question of 
state politics whatever? What election, what measure of the 
state government, has ever divided this people into factions ? Has 
the occasion ever occurred in the state government of Virginia, 
when the foulest charges have been made and retorted, and mutual 
recriminations have resounded through the land ? That such cri- 
minations, so frequent of late in the other large states, are founded 
in truth, no fair man will hastily pronounce, and no good man will 
willingly believe: but, whether true or false, they are a sore evil. 
At home, they disturb private intercourse, they destroy public 
confidence: they lessen the national character abroad. Such vio- 
lent factions have existed in other states, such furious animosities, 
as would have appalled the people of Virginia in the very tempest 
of the revolution. If peace and order, and mutual confidence, be 
blessings, (and blessings they are the most grateful to a virtuous 
people that they can enjoy,) then is our condition happy in itself, 
and the more enviable in comparison of others. And it is to this 
constitution, now brought into jeopardy, that we owe these bles- 
sings : for, as the difference was certainly not in the original cha- 
racter or temper of the people, it can only be looked for in the 
difference of political institutions. 

Surely, it behoves those who counsel reform or change in this 
constitution, if they can point out no actual evil flowing from its 
provisions, to shew us at least some apparent portent of evil, gath- 
ering and impending over our heads, which it is necessary to an- 
ticipate and prevent by timely reformation. 

The maxims of political prudence deducible from all history, 
approved by the fathers of the republic, proclaimed by the Decla- 
ration of Independence, inculcated by our own Bill of Rights; the 
uniform experience of half a century, testifying the capacity and 
fitness of the present form of government, in its practical opera- 
tion, to promote and secure the public weal ; the signal blessings, 
so long and yet enjoyed, of public peace, order, security, freedom ; 
of all that constitutes political happiness; a condition, which we 
have every reason to be content with, if we look at home, and 
proud of, if we look abroad : these general considerations would 
alone suffice to determine and fix the resolution of this meeting, 
to uphold the existing constitution, and to deprecate the call of a 
convention for purposes of amendment or change, the extent, na- 
ture and practical consequences of which, no man can define, no 
human wisdom foreknow. 

But, when this meeting considers the various objections that it 
has heard urged against the constitution, the particular vices and 
defects, that are ailedged to shew the propriety and necessity of 
instant reform, and the correctives that are proposed or desired ; 



the meeting, far from acknowledging the imperfections com- 
plained of, is only the more convinced, that there is no real 
cause for discontent, and the more alarmed at the extent of the 
revolution, to which these schemes of reformation tend. 

The whole frame of the government, in every department, 
Executive, Judicial and Legislative, is reprobated as too faulty 
to be longer endured by an intelligent and free people. 

I. With respect to the first, it is thought, that the Executive 
Council is an unnecessary, if not a pernicious institution, and 
ought, therefore, to be abolished. 

The framers of the constitution intended to establish a purely 
republican government, without any the least mixture of monar- 
chy. They designed to divest the Executive of all that influence 
in the public councils, which in every other government then 
known, which in many of the governments since established in 
other states of this Union, which in the general government of the 
Union, makes the executive, practically, the most important de- 
partment in the government ; and the election of the chief magis- 
trate sometimes a scene of agitation and contention bordering on 
civil commotion. Therefore, they reduced the power of this de- 
partment to the lowest degree practicable* and so constituted it, 
as to make it a mere instrument for executing the laws. Still, 
convenience imperiously required, that some discretionary powers, 
some influential patronage, should be confided to it. To recon- 
cile, with the main design which dictated the constitution o' the 
department, the power and patronage unavoidably entrusted to it, 
and in effect, to neutralize them, the convention of 1776 saw no 
other way but to divide them. In truth, there is no other way. 
If the design was good, (and that it was so will hardly now be 
questioned,) the method taken to accomplish it, was wise. It has 
accomplished it most perfectly. For, though the executive exer- 
cises very important powers, and quite an extensive patronage; 
though, for example, it exercises the high prerogative of mercy ; 
though it has been the agent for making most of the contracts for 
public works, and has thus been, in a manner, the dispenser of 
vast sums of public treasure ; though it appoints to many of the 
inferior offices, exercises a veto upon nominations to other impor- 
tant offices, and tills all vacancies occurring in the highest offices 
during the recess of the legislature: yet, its patronage is so little 
felt, as to be hardly known to exist, except by those who have mi- 
nutely examined the elements of the institution. It is curious 
enough, that this opinion of the executive council being unne- 
cessary, is owing entirely to the fact, that it has exactly an- 
swered the purpose of its creation, in so diminishing the impor- 
tance of the executive department, that the extent of its powers 
has been unfeltor forgotten. If the executive council were abo- 
lished, and the whole power and patronage now vested in the de- 
partment, were vested in the governor; if he, singly, were to ex- 
ercise the prerogative of mercy, to have the disposal of public con- 



) ' 



10 

tracts, to exercise the veto on nominations of justices of the peace 
and sheriffs, to appoint militia officers, and to fill vacancies in the 
judiciary ; trivial as this patronage as now divided seems, the ac- 
cumulation of it all in the governor, would at once elevate that 
officer into high importance in the republic. The office would be- 
come an object of ambition; intrigues and factions would agitate 
the public at every election ; and the governor would be the gover- 
nor of the successful party to which he owed his elevation, instead 
of being, what he should be, and what the governor of Virginia un- 
der the existing system has invariably been, the governor of the 
Commonwealth. 

If, indeed, the event shall ever happen, (which may Heaven in 
its goodness long avert !) that the Union shall be dissolved, and 
Virginia consequently surrounded by independent, rival, and 
therefore hostile nations; it may then be necessary, for the pur- 
poses of defence against external force, to strengthen the execu- 
tive arm. But it will be time enough to provide for the exigency; 
when that dark and evil day shall come. It is one of the chief 
blessings of our Union, that it prevents the possible occurrence of 
any such exigency, and the necessity of any such remedy. 

In the opinion of this meeting, therefore, the Executive council, 
far from being an unnecessary, much more a pernicious institu- 
tion, is one of the highest utility, and could not be abolished with- 
out essentially changing the character of the government in one 
of its most valuable features. It may be admitted, that the mode 
of removing the members of the council from office, is objectiona- 
ble: but, this is a fault so trivial and unconsequential, that (it is 
supposed) no considerate man would disturb the settled order of 
things, for the purpose of correcting it 

II. To the judicial department, as at present constituted, this 
meeting has heard of three objections; I. To the whole system of 
chancery courts: 2. To the union of legislative and .executive^ 
with judicial powers, in the same body of m^n : 3. To the want 
of any provision for the removal of superannuated judges. 

1st. If the objection to the courts of chancery, means no more, 
than that the jurisdiction exercised by the chancellors, ought to 
be vested in the circuit courts of common law, instead of being 
vested, as it now is, in distinct tribunals; it is hard to imagine 
any benefit, that can be expected from such a change; and it is 
easy to see many inconvenient and evil consequences. It would 
double the duties of the judges of the circuit courts ; and the conse- 
quencp would be, either that the whole judicial business of the coun- 
try, would be done with an haste wholly incompatible with justice, 
if, indeed, by any diligence or any hurry, it could be dispatched 
at all'; or, that the circuits must be reduced in their extent, the 
terms of the courts lengthened to suit the duplication of their du- 
ties, and, by consequence, the number of the judges also doubled. 
This part of the plan of reform, would defeat the schemes of eco- 
nomy, which are urged among other motives for calling a conven- 



11 

Hon. Add to which, as in the very nature of equitable juris- 
prudence, all parties interested, wheresoever residing, must be 
conwnted before the court, the proposed change would increase 
the inconvenience and vexation of litigation to the greater part of 
the suitors, in the proportion that the number of counties in 
any chancery district bears to one. In the chancery district of 
Richmond, for example, it would increase it twenty two fold ; for, 
everv citizen of the Commonwealth would be amenable to twenty- 
two circuit chancery courts, instead of one district chancery 
court. 

If the objection goes to the whole system of equitable jurispru- 
dence, as now exercised by the chancellors; if it be desired, that 
that system of law which is technically called Equity, should be 
abolished; the proposition amounts to little less than an abroga- 
tion of our whole system of jurisprudence, and the substitution of 
one wholly new. Such a reform would transcend, in extent and 
violence, any thing that the boldest law-giver ever yet attempted : 
and it would require years and ages of legislation to accomplish 
the work. It is commonly a boon, which the vanquished ask of 
their conquerors, and these in humanity never fail to grant, that 
the conquered shall enjoy their ancient laws. Shall the people 
of. Virginia voluntarily incur an evil, which no conqueror would 
be so cruel as to impose? 

If the objection means only, that Equity should be administered 
according to the course of the common law : it is to be remarked, 
in the first place, that no change of the constitution is necessary 
to-accomplish the end ; it being unquestionably competent to the 
Legislature now, to make such an alteration, if it can by any in- 
genuity be convinced of its wisdom. And, in the next place, this 
meeting feels the most undoubting conviction, that such an alte- 
ration would be unwise. Here, we can have recourse to the ex- 
perience of others for instruction. The system of law in Louisi- 
ana, is (mainly) the civil law : the common law prevails in all the 
other States in the Union. The States of Pennsylvania, Massa- 
chusetts and some other New England States, have not wholly 
abolished the principles of equitable jurisprudence, but have con- 
solidated them with the principles and remedies of the common 
law. And though they have been employed in perfecting this cu- 
rious and complex system, from their, earliest organization, the 
contrivances to which they have resorted, appear, (at least, in the 
distant view we have of them,) awkward and inconvenient in the 
extreme. If they adhere to this system, it is because they pru- 
dently consider, that that which has become habitual, is for that 
reason good. Their wisest men (it is believed) little think their 
own system enviable to others, though byoise it has grown to be 
tolerable to themselves. 

2d. The second objection is applicable only to the county courts. 
This meeting sees, with unspeakable regret and alarm, that the 
spirit of Reform approaches, without the least compunction or 



12 

dread, even this ancient, venerable, and most useful part of our 
institutions. 

The objection is based on the fifth article of the Bill of Rights, 
which declares, "that the Legislative and Executive powe s of 
" the State, ought to be kept separate and distinct from the Judi- 
" ciary." Those who urge this objection on the strength of this 
general declaration, do not perceive, that they extend the con- 
struction of the words beyond the obvious meaning of the Con- 
vention of 1776. They certainly never were intended to repro- 
bate the eligibility of the justices of the peace to either House of 
Assembly; or the union of judicial powers with the duties of 
county police, in the county courts. If they had been so inten- 
ded, the Convention would have declared the justices of the peace 
ineligible to the Legislature : they would have abolished the 
county court system; or indicated an amendment of it, conform- 
ably with their declaration of right. But, the third article of the 
Constitution, after repeating the fifth article of the Bill of Rights, 
expressly makes the justices of county courts eligible to the Le- 
gislature; and the 13th and 15th articles of the constitution re- 
cognize the county courts, as a fundamental part of the frame of 
government. 

The county court system existed before the Revolution, in ex- 
actly its present form. Being adapted to all times, and peculi- 
arly adapted to republican institutions, it was in truth the only 
important colonial institution, that was preserved wholly un- 
changed. 

The county courts perform those Executive functions, which 
fall under the head of police : and to whom could they so pro- 
perly be confided, as to the justices of the peace ? They impose 
levies for county purposes; of which, when imposed, the justices 
bear their equal proportion: and who so likely to be economical, 
as those who share the particular burthen? 

The justices of the county courts are eligible to the Legisla- 
ture. And if they shall not be continued so; if, in the work of 
reformation, the paths of honor be shut to them ; it is easy to see, 
how many, who now hold the commission of the peace, will de- 
cline that service, to which only a small eventual reward (the 
profits of the shrievalty in rotation) is annexed, and which can 
bestow nothing of what the world calls or esteems renown. The 
consequences will be, that the county courts will be degraded; 
and then it will soon be found wise to abolish them altogether. 

The county court system is the oldest institution in Virginia. 
The experience of two centuries has gradually improved and 
adapted it to the genius, the wants and condition of the people. 
These courts transact almost all the ordinary business of the 
country. It is the cheapest system of justice ever devised ; and 
those, who are best acquainted with them, bear testimony to the 
general justice and regularity of their proceedings. But, it is 
the spotless purity, the easy, unpretending, unconscious dignity, 



13 

and (above all) the impress of parental and neighbourly kindness, 
sef and felt in the administration of all their powers, that en- 
dear these tribunals to the people, and command universal respect. 

This meeting is persuaded, moreover, that every attentive ob- 
server of practical politics, must have perceived in this system, 
another principle of the highest utility, not perhaps attainable, in 
a country like Virginia, in any other conceivable method. These 
courts have the effect of assembling the people monthly, and of 
disseminating all kinds of information among them. The value 
of the institution, in a general political point of view, is incal- 
culable. 

3d. The objection to the want of a provision in the existing con- 
stitution, for the removal of superannuated judges, is (so far as 
this meeting is informed,) now raised for the first time in this 
Commonwealth. 

This meeting distrusts all merely theoretical reasonings and 
schemes in politics: nor does it know any thing like experience, 
to which it can have recourse, as a guide for its opinion on this 
point, except the example of the State of New York. And look- 
ing to her example, it is seriously apprehended, that the principle 
adopted in that State, does there, and would every where, oftener 
remove matured wisdom from the bench, than imbecile dotage. 
In New York, (it is believed,) it has removed no judge, who was 
not as well or better fitted for the judicial station, when ejected, 
than \yhen first appointed : it has removed, among others, a Lans- 
ing, a Spencer, and a Kent. If it had prevailed in England, 
Mansfield would have been removed as early as 1766, who con- 
tinued to preside for more than twenty years afterwards, an honor 
to the bench, and to human nature. If it had prevailed in Vir- 
ginia, it would have removed Wythe and Pendleton about 
1786, and it would have anticipated the hand of death, in re- 
moving Roane. 

Virginia has hitherto done well, without any such principle; 
and the only example of its application that we are acquainted 
with, has not been attended with any such good consequences, as 
inspire the desire of imitation. 

III. To the constitution of the Legislature, this meeting has 
heard four objections, two of them vital, the others of no very 
material importance: 1. The inequality of the representation of 
the counties : 2. The freehold qualification of suffrage : 3. The 
number of the House of Delegates : 4. The union of executive 
and judicial powers with the Legislative. 

1st. The objection to the inequality in the representation of the 
c nties, is a subject so large, that this meeting must, content 
with selecting and presenting such views as appear hitherto 
ittv r e escaped general attention. 

If the wisdom of political institutions ought to be tested by 
the rules of arithmetic instead of political expediency, or by 
the theories of philosophers instead of practical results of good 



14 

or* evil; if the law-giver could conquer the obstinacy of circum- 
stances, bend them to his will, and square them with his pur- 
poses ; this objection mignt be admitted to be unanswerable. 
But no future convention, any more than the convention of 1776, 
can level the mountains of the west, or drain the marshes or fer- 
tilize the sands of the east: the statesman cannot distribute the 
free population of the State, equally over every part of our ter- 
ritory, or make every portion of territory equally capable of sus- 
taining the same population : he cannot distribute even the slave 
population, equally among the different portions of the country: 
he cannot annihilate all couflicts of interest, arising from natural 
or moral causes, between different portions of the people : he 
cannot safely take away rights vested and long enjoyed. He 
must take things as he finds them, and to do the best he can. 

There are three great divisions of Virginia, which are not to 
be obliterated ; the eastern, the middle, and the western counties. 

Twenty-eight counties in the eastern part of the State, and the 
two towns of Norfolk and Williamsburg, with an aggregate popu- 
lation of 342,677 souls, send fifty '- eight delegates to the assem- 
bly. Twenty five counties west of the Alleghany, with a popu- 
lation of 145,739 souls, send fifty delegates. The aggregate 
population of the twenty-eight eastern, and twenty five western 
counties, is 488,416 souls; and their aggregate representation 
one hundred and eight delegates. The middle counties and the 
towns of Richmond and Petersburg, with an aggregate popula- 
tion of 636,789 souls, send ninety-six delegates. 

It is obvious at the first glance, that the excess of represen- 
tation is in favor of the eastern and western counties; and that 
comparing the representation of the eastern with that of the 
western counties, the excess is in favor of the western* 

All the counties are of very various territorial extent, having 
been laid off chiefly with a view to the more convenient adminis- 
tration of justice and police. The counties are also very various 
in the number of their population. The eastern counties are 
generally of small territorial extent. The western counties, on 
the other hand, embrace large extents of territory ; their popu- 
lation is very sparse, and so is likely to continue for a very long 
time, perhaps forever. But the proportion of their free to their 
slave population, is much greater, than that of the other counties. 
All the counties have enjoyed an equal representation, coevally 
with the commencement of this system of subdivision. And the 
people, especially of the older counties, are now just as completely 
subdivided, as the territory. An attentive observer will have 
discerned in the people of every county, a peculiar county cha* 
racter. 

In this state of things, it is gravely complained, that as a popu- 
lation of 488,416 souls, has a representation of owe hundred and 
eight delegates, and a population of 636,789 has a representation 
of only ninety -six delegates, the representatives of a minority of 



15 

the people may overrule those of the majority, and govern the 
republic. If such a combination had ever occurred, between the 
representatives of the small, against those of the large counties— 
between the representatives of the extreme Eastern and those of 
the extreme Western counties, against the representatives of the 
middle counties ; if such a combination were ever likely to occur; 
if, in the nature of things, it were not morally certain, that it ne- 
ver can occur; this view of the representation would be very 
plausible. But we know, that, in truth and fact, the legislation 
of Virginia hath always been the legislation of the representa- 
tives of the real majority of the free people : and the friends of 
reform may safely be defied to point out a single instance to the 
contrary. This complaint was once made in the House of Dele- 
gates, and instantly refuted by an appeal to undeniable facts. 

Before a convention shall be called to equalize the representa- 
tion of the counties, it ought to be shewn, that such equalization 
is practicable ; and if so, how. Now it can only be effected upon 
one of two principles: Either the smallest county must be al- 
lowed at least one representative, and a proportionate represen- 
tation must be given to the larger counties respectively : or, the 
counties must be thrown into districts of equal population, as near 
as may be, and the delegation must be elected by districts, on the 
principle of our congressional representation. 

If the plan of allowing one representative at least to the small- 
est county, and a proportionate representation to all the other 
counties, shall be adopted : then Nicholas, the smallest Western 
county, with a population of less than 2,000 souls, would have 
one delegate; Washington, with near 12,000, would have six; 
Chesterfield, with above 18,000, would have nine; Culpeper, 
with above 20,000, would have ten; Loudoun, Fauquier, and 
Norfolk, with above 23,000 each, would each have eleven; and 
Frederick, with above 24,000, would have twelve. It is needless 
to proceed farther. This scheme of equalizing the representa- 
tion of the counties, is obviously impracticable, since it would in- 
crease the House of Delegates, to a number out of all reason. 
And if Warwick, the smallest Eastern county, having a popula- 
tion of only 1,608, should be taken as the basis of the apportion- 
ment, the inconvenience would be yet more aggravated. 

If, to surmount this difficulty, it should be concluded to con- 
dense counties of small population into one large and equal coun- 
ty; it need not be asked, whether the small counties in the east 
would endure such a privation of a dear and vested right, so long 
enjoyed? it must be enquired, whether the western counties, of 
large territorial extent and small population, could endure it? 
These counties must be subdivided, if the benefit of civil govern- 
ment is to be extended to them: it were cruel, inequitable, and 
insupportable, to place and leave men an hundred miles from the 
seat of justice. Our fellow-citizens of the West complain that 
the Legislature has not been as prompt to divide their counties, 



16 

as it should have been ; those of the East think, that it has been 
unreasonably indulgent in this respect. Impartial men will think, 
the Legislature has pursued the just mean. 

If the other principle should be adopted, of laying off the Com- 
monwealth into districts of equal population, for the election of 
delegates to the Assembly, upon the principle of the Congres- 
sional representation; let us see, how a House of Delegates so 
constituted, would comport with the feelings of the people, or 
answer the purposes of local Legislation peculiarly the province 
of the State government 

This scheme too, would involve that harshest of all operations; 
the tearing away of vested rights long enjoyed, and considered by 
the people as their imprescriptible birthright. But, let us for a 
moment consider the people every where so enamoured of politi- 
cal justice, or arithmetical proportion, as to forego every other 
consideration, and to banish every feeling natural to the unso- 
phisticated heart of man. 

The population of Virginia is somewhat more than a million. 
Let the house of delegates consist of one hundred members, (which 
seems now to be considered as the golden number) that is. one 
for every ten thousand. Then (for example) the three counties 
of Nicholas, Pendleton and Randolph, containing an aggregate 
population of little more than ten thousand souls, yet comprising a 
vast extent of territory, would form one district Is it conceiva- 
ble, that any one man chosen from such a district, would be a real 
representative of the people of it, for purposes of state legislation ? 
That he could represent their local interests, their peculiar feel- 
ings, wants, wishes? That those people would or ought to be 
satisfied with such a representation ? 

In the state representation, it is essential, that there should be 
a close and intimate connexion between the representative and 
his constituents. Whoever thinks, that the existing principle of 
congressional representation, can be applied to the representation 
of the people of Virginia in the state legislature, forgets the essen- 
tial difference between the nature and objects of the two govern- ' 
ments. Congress is charged with the external relations, the gene- 
ral concerns, of the nation; in respect to which, large masses of 
population and territory have the same interest and generally the 
same sentiments: the state government is charged with the do- 
mestic, internal, local concerns of the people. The federal con- 
vention had to erect the government from its very foundations: 
had it found the representation settled and vested, it had never 
disturbed it. 

It has been already remarked, that the representation of the wes- 
tern counties, compared even with that of the eastern, is exces- 
sive. The western counties have at present about one -fourth of 
the representation in the House of Delegates. Comparing the 
population of these counties (about 145,500) with that of the 
whole Commonwealth (about 1,050,000,) it is plain, that no plaa 



17 

ean be devised for equalizing the representation, which will not 
reduce their proportion to something less than a seventh. He who 
thinks, that the people of those counties ought to consent to such 
a diminution of their weight in the Legislature, has no fellow- 
feeling for them : he who thinks, that they ever will, counts the 
heart of man for nothing, in his political speculations. The 
schemes of equalization, which would work such consequences, 
could only be imposed upon them by force. 

There is, indeed, one principle, on which the Western people 
might consent to such equalization ; one, on which they would 
lose none of their relative strength in the Legislature. If, in 
apportioning the representation, the slave population, so incon- 
siderable in the Western counties, so large in the Middle and Eas- 
tern, shall be wholly disregarded, the Western counties will per- 
haps as eagerly embrace, as the Middle and Eastern will strenu- 
ously resist, this blessing of equality. And let the attempt be 
made when it will, this question, (which seems to be the very 
dcemon of discord,) will be sure to rise up to confound our peace. 

In the apprehension of this meeting, the very agitation of this 
subject is calculated to do great mischief. It is a searching blast, 
which will find every weak part of the body politic And we 
implore those, who are prosecuting this design, to beware, lest, 
while they mean only an equitable arrangement of the represen- 
tation, they be not striking a vital blow at the integrity of the 
Commonwealth. For, we feel the most painful conviction, that 
the actual attempt to execute the design, will array in direct op- 
position, all the conflicting interests of the State, growing out of 
natural diversities in the face of the country, and out of the moral 
diversities of our population ; and wake into action, all the latent 
causes of civil contention, which good men should wish, and wise 
men should labor, by all means, to allay. 

The convention of 1776, in leaving the representation of une- 
qual counties equal, as it found it, was doubtless determined by 
a regard to the ancient settled order of things, and a prudent 
care not to carry reformation, even in the hour of revolution, be- 
yond what was necessary. The immediate consequences justified 
its wisdom ; and the remote (which probably it did not foresee) 
have, in a wonderful manner, proved its conduct to have been 
happy. The excess of representation in the Eastern counties, 
has enabled the Legislature to make those divisions and subdivi- 
sions of the Western territory, (so necessary to give just satisfac- 
tion to the citizens of it, so necessary for the convenient admi- 
nistration of justice and police among them, so necessary to give 
them, not a mere nominal, but a substantial, representation of 
their interests,) without fear or danger of giving them an undue 
preponderance. The excess of the representation of the West, is 
counter balanced by that of the East. All has turned out well 
and happily; and every plan of reform, that has been suggested 
or can be conceived, is beset with insuperable and fearful diffi- 
culties. 3 



18 

2nd. The objection to the freehold qualification of suffrage, is 
avowed I v founded, not on any abuse of their power, committed by 
the freeholders of Virginia in time past, or apprehended from them 
in future, but on alledged abstract principles of right. 

The act of 1736 confined the right of suffrage to the freeholders 
of one hundred acres of unimproved, or twenty -Jive acres of im- 
proved land; and required twelve months previous title and pos- 
session. An act was passed in 1769, reducing the quantity of 
unimproved land necessary to qualify a freeholder to vote, to Jiffy 
acres ' r and the term of previous title and possession to six months: 
but this act was suspended for the royal approbation, and that 
never came. The constitution provides, that the right of suffrage, 
in the election of members of the Assembly, '* shall remain as 
exercised at present." And the act of 1785, fixed the qualification 
of the freeholders, in respect of unimproved land, at fifty acres, 
and the term of previous title and possession at six months : the 
Legislature, either considering, that while the freehold princi- 
ple was preserved, an extension of the right of suffrage, by re- 
ducing the quantity of land and the term of title and posses- 
sion, was constitutional ; or, regarding the act of 1769 as in force, 
notwithstanding the want of the royal assent; or knowing, that, 
in fact, at the date of the constitution, the right of suffrage was 
exercised according to the provisions of the act of 1769. The act 
of 1785 was proposed by the famous committee of revisors ; all of 
them men intimately acquainted with the exact state of things at 
the date of the constitution. 

Such is the history and present state of the right of suffrage in 
Virginia. 

If this be an aristocracy, it is the most open and most unguard- 
ed that ever existed: every man is free to acquire the patent of 
nobility. It has indeed been suggested, as a probable state of facts, 
that the freeholders do not constitute a majority of the freemen of 
Virginia. But this meeting is not informed of the grounds upon 
which this conjecture is founded, nor is it apprised of the exist- 
ence of any body of information, any where or in any manner 
collected, to which recourse can be had for the purpose of examin- 
ing the accuracy or probability of it. It therefore sets refutation 
at defiance for "the present: it may be affirmed, or denied, with 
equal safety. But if it be meant to affirm, that the qualified voters 
do not constitute the great body of free white men, over twenty- 
one years of age, and of settled residence: this meeting, adverting 
to the character of our population ; the nature of our tenures ; the 
agricultural occupation of the whole people; the early marriages 
general throughout the country, and the consequent early settle- 
ment of every man on land of his own; the sparseness of popula- 
tion in proportion to the extent of territory, and the consequent 
abundance of land — cannot doubt that the 'freeholders constitute 
a large majority of such freemen in this Commonwealth. 

Men have been known to purchase a freehold, in order to qua- 
lify themselves to be elected to the Legislature; but, if any in- 



19 

stances have occurred of men purchasing a freehold in order to 
qualify themselves to vote in elections, such instances are ex- 
tremely rare: a sure proof, that the freehold qualification is not 
fe : f as a real grievance by those who happen not to possess it; and 
thai the objection is founded on imaginary hardship and theoreti- 
cal reasonings. 

This meeting is little moved by the objection, that the freehold 
qualification was an institution of colonial times. This is mere 
eknuour. Jury trial was a colonial institution. Representative 
government was a colonial institution, and undoubtedly an English 
invention. The county court system was a colonial institution 
and invention. 

It seems to this meeting very surprising, that the enemies of 
freehold 'suffrage should claim the authority of our Bill of Hights. 
It is an attempt to force on the words of the instrument a differ- 
ent sense from that in which the frame rs of it certainly used 
them. The convention of 1776 declared, in the BUI of flights, 
"that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common 
" interest with, and attachment to tne community, have the right 
V of suffrage ;" and the same convention established the freehold 
qualification by the constitution; thus giving us their cotempo- 
rary exposition of their own declaration of right; and shewing us, 
that, in their sense of that declaration, the possession of a free- 
hold was the sufficient evidence of permanent common interest 
with, and attachment to the community, which entitled the citizen 
to vote. 

The Bill of Rights also declares, "that all men are by nature 
i( equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, 
" of which, when they enter into society, they cannot, by any 
" compact deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoy- 
" ment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and pos- 
" sessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and 
" safety." Surely, it cannot seriously be believed, that this decla- 
ration of natural rights, in any sense to which it can be wrested, 
has reference to the right of suffrage. It is a declaration of rights 
and liberties, inherent in man, before he enters into society. Is 
the right of suffrage inherent in man ; can it exist, before man en- 
ters into society ? 

Leaving the ground of authority for that of argument, the ene- 
mies of the freehold qualification of suffrage, are understood to 
maintain, that all free men, being subject to the laws, and bound 
to defend the government by personal service, and to contribute 
to its support, have a natural right to vote for members of the 
Legislature. 

If they mean by natural right, a right given by the law of nature 
(and if they do not mean this, the proposition is nothing to the 
purpose) then, certainly, the right of suffrage is not a natural right. 
It does not exist, and therefore cannot pertain to a man, in a state 
of nature. It can only exist in a state of society : it can only be 



20 

conferred by society: and, like all other rights, conferred by so- 
ciety, it may justly, indeed it must necessarily, be defined and 
regulated by society. The entire regulation of it becomes a mat- 
ter of political expediency, of which society is the sole and abso- 
lute judge. And hence it is, that the right of suffrage, like all 
other merely social political rights, is found to be variously modi- 
fied in different societies, according to their varying opinions and 
no less varying circumstances. 

The friends of universal suffrage, do themselves, in effect, aban- 
don the pretension, that the elective franchise is a natural right ; 
and admit, that it is a mere question of political expediency, to 
be determined by wisdom and policy. All natural rights, (such 
as those declared in the first article of the Bill of Rights — the 
right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness,) are 
common to all the human kind. And if the right of suffrage be 
one of these natural rights, it is imprescriptible, unalienable, and 
common to all ; men, women, and children of every age. It is 
complained, that this is an effort to refute the principle by press- 
ing it to an absurd extreme. This is true. But then it is fair and 
even necessary, to pursue the principle to its consequences, in 
order to shew, that the principle itself is a violent extreme. 

Those who profess themselves friends of universal suffrage, 
would not, any more than the friends of the freehold qualification, 
make the right of suffrage universal. All agree, that the female 
sex, and all children of immature reason, should be excluded 
from the elective franchise, (that is, that the majority of every 
society ought to be denied this right :) not, surely, because every 
woman is inferior in intelligence and virtue to every man ; not 
because no boy is equa! in capacity to any man of mature years; 
nor yet because women and children are not subject to the laws, 
or bound to contribute to the support of government: but, 
because experience hath convinced every republic, and indeed 
all who have speculated on the theory of government, that it is 
wise and politic, to exclude women and children, as well as men 
debased by crime, from the elective franchise ; though the dis- 
qualification of each of these classes of citizens, rests on pecu- 
liar and distinct reasons, wholly inapplicable to the other. 

The regulation of the right of suffrage, therefore, is an affair of 
political expediency altogether. That some regulation, some limi- 
tation, nay a very extensive limitation, is necessary and just, all 
admit. And all must admit too, that that regulation ought to be 
preferred, which is the most likely, in its effect, to make the legis- 
lative body truly represent, and to that end be elected by, the 
experience, the matured reason, the good sense, the manly inde- 
pendence, the incorruptible virtue, and the great, prevailing, 
enduring interest of the Commonwealth. 

The question, then, resolves itself into this : Is the freehold 
qualification that general regulation of the right of suffrage, 
which is the best calculated to accomplish this wise and just end ? 



21 

It is not perfect. It is of the essence of all regulation, to be 
fixed and general ; and no regulation could be framed by human 
wisdom, so perfect, as not to exclude some, who (if regard could 
be had to their particular character) ought to be admitted, and 
on the other hand, to admit some who ought to be excluded. To 
object against the present system, general imperfection of this 
kind, is not to object to the freehold qualification only, but to all 
regulation. The true question is, whether the freehold qualifica- 
tion be the preferrable regulation ? 

And on this question, this meeting must content itself with 
selecting out of the multifarious views that present themselves, 
the most simple and the most practical, and, therefore, in the 
sense of this meeting, the most conclusive. 

The freeholders of Virginia are not a body of wealthy land- 
lords, inclined by interest or temper, to oppress those who are not 
freeholders. They are the Yeomanry of the country; the allo- 
dial and independent cultivators of the soil, for their own bene- 
fit ; neither inflated by the pride of exorbitant wealth, nor de- 
pressed or tortured by the distresses and discontents of extreme 
poverty : that body of me^, which constitutes the strength of 
every country, and the foundation on which every Commonwealth 
must be erected; who are the most removed from corruption, or 
temptation to corruption, and the most incapable of any combi- 
nation for purposes of mischief; who cannot betray the public 
liberty or interests, without betraying their own ; in whom, in this 
our republic, every great permanent interest centres, and who bear 
almost the whole weight of all public burthens. 

Now, either the admission of those who are not freeholders, to 
the elective franchise, would produce some change in the general 
character and spirit of our Legislation, or it would produce none. 

If it would produce none, where is the necessity or expediency, 
what is the object, what would be the practical effect, of the pro- 
posed reform ? This meeting cannot suspect the friends of re- 
form, of the folly of desiring reform for the mere sake of novelty 
or change, without design or expectation of any practical conse- 
quences whatsoever. 

But, if the proposed change would work a change in the general 
character and spirit of our Legislation, let the landholders, let 
the great landed interest of this Commonwealth in all its ramifi- 
cations, seriously consider the consequences. So long as the 
freeholders compose the constituent of the representative and 
Legislative body, we may all rest in perfect security, that no laws 
will be designedly enacted; no system of measures adopted, none 
certainly will be endured, pernicious to their own interests ; and 
by inevitable consequence, none pernicious to the interests of any 
other class of citizens: for, it is impossible to conceive a law that 
would be injurious to those who are not landholders, which would 
not affect the landholders themselve?, in an equal if not in a great- 



22 

er degree. Suppose a general capitation tax should be imposed 
(for example) such an imposition would bear as heavily, indeed 
far more heavily on the landholders, (the fathers of families and 
the owners of slaves) than on those who are not landholders. 
But if the government shall ever come to be controlled, or mate- 
rially influenced by those who are not freeholders, laws may be 
enacted, which will vitally affect the landholders, and the landed 
interest, without touching the particular interests of those who en- 
act them. They may impose the heaviest taxation on lands, and 
(as those rarely hold many slaves who are not landholders) on 
slaves too, on all manner of farming stock, and on the grazi rs' 
cattle, to their own entire exemption, and to the grievous oppres- 
sion of the landholders. 

This meeting doth really apprehend, that this desire for abro- 
gating the freehold qualification, (as no pretence has been heard 
of any practical grievance, oppression or inconvenience, seen, 
felt, or apprehended, from this regulation of the right of suf- 
frage,) is to be imputed chiefly to the contagion of the exam- 
ple of our sister states ali around us. And we are much mis- 
taken in our estimate of political causes and effects, if the pre- 
sent condition of at least one state in the Union, does not ex- 
hibit an experimental illustration of the justness of the view above 
taken of the subject ; and if, in some other states, the abolition of 
freehold qualification, honestly designed to exalt the poor to a po- 
litical level with the rich, has not resulted in enhancing the weight 
and influence of overgrown wealth, and especially of the monied 
interest ; the action of which in elections, must always, in a greater 
or lesser degree, be attended with corruption. We forbear to en- 
ter into any examination of the facts; since we would anxiously 
avoid all indecorum towards other states, and would not even re- 
fer to their institutions, except for the essential purpose of more 
justly estimating our own. We suggest the inquiry, and invite 
our fellow-citizens to examine the experiments that have been 
made of universal suffrage ; and verily believe, that the inquiry 
will result in the undoubting opinion, that the example of other 
states is a beacon to warn, not a guide to direct. 

Virginia has, in. some two or three particulars, been moved by 
the example of other states, to depart from her own views of poli- 
cy; and has always found cause for repentance in the experi- 
ment. She was tempted, (for instance,) by the example of other 
states, to admit the Banking system. She admitted it, slowly, 
reluctantly, timidly : she stopt far short of the excesses, to which 
it was elsewhere carried : yet, now she finds it the mother of 
numberless ills, equally hard to be bonie, and difficult to be era- 
dicated. Indeed, it is one of the strongest objections to all expe- 
riments in fundamental politics, that the step once taken, there 
can be no return. The state, which ought to be immortal, inca- 
pable of recalling the evil day, and directing her course anew by 
the wisdom which experience and adversity shall have taught, 



23 

moves gloomily on, like individual man, to her latter end ; labor- 
ing to avert it, but sure that it is approaching. 

3d. On the objection to the number of the House of Delegates, 
this meeting has only a few words to bestow. 

It is supposed, that if the House of Delegates were reduced to 
half its present number, the business of Legislation would be 
transacted with more accuracy, as well as dispatch, and that of 
course there would be a valuable saving of expense. 

This meeting, adverting to the province and objects of the 
State government, and esteeming a full representation in the 
more popular branch of the Legislature, essential to those objects, 
and better calculated to give general satisfaction to the people, is 
by no means satisfied, that the present representation is too full, 
or is ever likely to grow too large, under the present system. 

Much less is this meeting satisfied, that half the number of De- 
legates would transact the business of Legislation with more dis- 
patch or accuracy. Let us appeal to observation and fact. The 
House of Commons of Great Britain, consisting of above six 
hundred members, of whom four or Jive hundred are present in 
all affairs of importance, transacts those affairs with a dispatch, 
so far exceeding that of our less numerous assemblies in the Uni- 
ted States, as seems wonderful to us, and unaccountable. The 
House of Representatives of Massachusetts, consisting often of 
jive hundred members, transacts business as conveniently, and 
with as much dispatch, as any Assembly in the Union. The Con- 
gress of the United States, and the House of Delegates of Vir- 
ginia, when they respectively consisted of little more than half 
their present number, (it is confidently believed,) did not transact 
business with more convenience and dispatch, than they do now. 
If their sessions were shorter, it was because they had not the 
same mass of business to digest and dispose of. Since that day, 
the population of the Union, and the population of Virginia, has 
more than doubled, and the business of legislation has increased, 
for obvious reasons, in a yet greater proportion. 

With respect to the expense, the discontent on this subject has 
arisen from what is thought the unreasonable length of the last 
session of the Assembly, compared with the importance of the 
work of Legislation appearing on the statute book. If the length 
of the important revising session of 1819, had been compared 
with its works, this discontent would probably never have arisen. 
Considerate men will judge, whether it be wise to found general 
conclusions on a few, much more a single accidental instance. 
But there is surely, no necessity to change the Constitution for 
the sake of economy in this respect, and no certainty that econo- 
my would be secured by the change. If the people will instruct 
their delegates to reduce their wages to one half the present com- 
pensation, half the expense of Legislation, will, by that simple 
and easy method, be saved. If, on the other hand, by a change in 
the Constitution, the House of Delegates should be reduced to 
one half its present number ; and then the reformed Assembly 



24 

having double duty to perform, |hould think it reasonable to dou* 
ble their wages; nearly the same expense would be incurred as at 
present. 

4th. Of the remaining objection, this meeting is unable to see 
the force, and at a loss to understand the application. 

It is complained, that all the powers of government, Execu- 
tive and Judicial, as well Legislative, are blended together, and 
vested in the General Assembly ; that there is a departure of 
the government in practice, or of the provisions of the Constitu- 
tion itself, from the principle recognised in the third article, 
"that the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial departments shall 
be kept separate and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers 
properly belonging to others ; nor shall any person exercise the 
powers of more than one of them at the same time, except that 
the justices of the county courts shali be eligible to either House 
of Assembly." 

So far as this vague and general objection may relate to the eli- 
gibility of the justices of the county courts to the Assembly, it 
has already been noticed; and the Constitution (it is hoped) 
stands approved, in that respect, by obvious and irrefragable 
reason. 

It is difficult to imagine what are the judicial powers, which 
are supposed to be vested in the Legislature by the Constitution, 
or to have been ever usurped by it : unless the right of each House 
to judge of its own privileges and elections, and the province of the 
House of Delegates, as the grand inquest of the Commonwealth, be 
regarded as judicial powers 5 and these, certainly, no one would 
desire to take away. The practice of the Assembly to determine the 
merits of such claims upon the public, as are not founded in strict 
justice, but only in moral equity, and are properly addressed by 
petition to the liberality and favor of government, is no exercise 
of judicial powers. The laws provide, that those, who have legal 
claims against the Commonwealth, fit for judicial cognizance, if 
they be rejected by the ministerial officers of the treasury, may 
appeal to the courts of justice. The courts of justice entertain 
such claims, and decide upon them, every day, with as little con- 
cern for consequences, as they decide ordinary controversies be- 
tween man and man. The Legislature, or its ministerial officers, 
submit to such decrees, without murmur or hesitation. Nor 
has the Legislature ever impugned, or attempted to encroach, in 
the slightest degree, on the independence of the judiciary. The 
Constitution provides, that the judges shall hold their offices " du- 
ring good behavior," and shall have " fixed and adequate salaries." 
And, in practice, the judges have, in many instances, pronounced 
acts of Assembly unconstitutional and void ; and the Legislature 
has invariably respected such decisions, and repealed or altered 
the acts so condemned. 

It was the design of the Constitution, that the Executive de- 
partment should be a mere instrument for executing the laws en- 



25 

acted, and the measures prescribed, by the Legislature ; though 
it is true, that some other powers were vested in the Executive 
for the sake of convenience. Neither does the Constitution give 
the Legislature any Executive powers, nor has it ever assumed 
any. The Executive has been, in practice, what, in the theory of 
the institution, it was intended it should be. This meeting is 
content with the pure republican government we now enjoy, and 
deprecates any the least mixture of monarchy. Nor do we sus- 
pect the friends of a Convention, of a contrary sentiment. 

This meeting is deeply convinced of the wisdom of a ivrittm 
Constitution ; but it desires to have a Constitution written, not 
merely on parchment, but in the hearts of the people ; mixed up 
with their habits, deeply impressed on their minds, endeared by 
use, and sustained by veneration. Reform or change, without 
necessity, can only serve to destroy old foundations, and weaken 
new. 

This meeting has now given its honest opinions to its fellow-ci- 
tizens, on all the objections to the present form of government, 
and on all the correctives, which it has heard suggested. We 
have also given the reason for our opinions as fully as the occa- 
sion would permit. We have spoken with a zeal proportioned to 
the deep interest of the subject, but (we trust) without passion. 
We have come to a different conclusion from that expressed at a 
former meeting, because we have had time for mature reflection; 
and if men be not allowed to change their opinions, we know not 
what is the benefit of deliberation. We invite our fellow-citi= 
zens, all, to a careful examination of the subject, to a sober deli- 
beration upon it; nothing doubting that all will freely sacrifice, 
as we do, the pride of consistency to the convictions of reason. 

Resolved, therefore, as the opinion of this meeting, that it is in 
no wise expedient, that a Convention should be called, to reform 
or alter the present Constitution. 






H285 83 -mH 



LB.J'. '05 













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